CAREER: Transport and collective behavior of microswimmers in porous media

这项职业奖将研究细菌如何在组织、凝胶、土壤和沉积物等多孔环境中移动。细菌是微泳者的例子，微游者是一类能够在液体中推进自己的粒子。研究人员将使用3D打印来制造具有可控孔结构的多孔环境，并将使用显微镜观察细菌如何移动。这些研究将揭示细菌的运动和自组织如何依赖于它们的环境属性、细胞本身的属性以及细胞之间的相互作用。该项目将为高中、本科生和研究生提供新的研究经验和教育模块，特别关注来自代表性不足群体的学生。它还将使新的演示和演示能够激励和吸引普林斯顿公共图书馆和当地学校的K-12学生。最后，它将提供讨论论坛、研讨会和向更广泛的科学界传播计算工具的机会。该项目将开发新的实验技术和数学模型，以产生对微泳者在多孔介质中的运输和集体行为的基本理解。这项工作将专注于细菌，这是一种微型游泳者的原型，可以通过鞭毛推进在液体中移动。我们将讨论两个基本问题。首先，单细胞的运动性是如何通过孔尺度的限制来改变的--具体地说，运动性如何取决于细胞和多孔介质的性质？第二，细胞间的相互作用如何指导多孔介质中的集体行为？通过将细胞属性、多孔介质属性和运动/集体行为联系起来，这项工作将产生知识，从而能够预测和控制细菌的运输和组织。该项目的结果将帮助从业者在治疗感染、微生物药物输送、将土壤细菌用于农业和生物修复等应用中控制细菌行为。更广泛地说，这项工作将为未来对复杂环境中的微泳者的研究奠定基础，并将指导合成微泳者的设计和使用，应用范围从药物输送到化学感觉。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This CAREER award will investigate how bacteria move in porous environments such as tissue, gels, soils, and sediment. Bacteria are examples of microswimmers, a class of particles that can propel themselves through fluid. The investigators will use 3D printing to fabricate porous environments with controlled pore structures, and they will use microscopy to observe how the bacteria move. These studies will reveal how the motion and self-organization of bacteria depend on the properties of their environment, the properties of the cells themselves, and interactions among the cells. The project will provide new research experiences and educational modules for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, with a specific focus on students from under-represented groups. It will also enable new presentations and demonstrations to inspire and engage K-12 students at the Princeton Public Library and at local schools. Finally, it will provide opportunities for discussion forums, workshops, and dissemination of computational tools to the broader scientific community.This project will develop new experimental techniques and mathematical models to generate a fundamental understanding of microswimmer transport and collective behavior in porous media. The work will focus on bacteria, an archetype of microswimmers that can move through fluid by flagellar propulsion. Two fundamental questions will be addressed. First, how is single-cell motility altered by pore-scale confinement - specifically, how does motility depend on the properties of the cells and of the porous medium? Second, how do cell-cell interactions guide collective behavior in porous media? By connecting cellular properties, porous medium properties, and motility/collective behavior, this work will generate knowledge to enable prediction and control over bacterial transport and organization. Results from this project will help practitioners control bacterial behavior in applications such as treating infections, microbial drug delivery, using soil bacteria for agriculture, and bioremediation. More broadly, this work will provide a foundation for future studies of microswimmers in complex environments and will guide the design and use of synthetic microswimmers for applications ranging from drug delivery to chemical sensing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.